Osklen, Brazil's First Global Luxury Brand

Brazilians are snapping up luxury goods at a staggering rate. Industry sales were up 33% last year to $12 billion. So one would assume that the big, domestic brands would treat Brazil's own consumers as a priority. Not Osklen, the sought-after maker of sportswear founded in 1989 by the orthopaedic physician Oskar Metsavaht.

Metsavaht wants to go global quickly. The founder, who's also the Rio de Janeiro label's creative director, has confirmed that he is in negotiations to sell a majority stake of his business. Among the interested bidders are luxury-goods powerhouses such as LVMH and PPR, and Marvin Traub Associates, the consultancy owned by Bloomingdale's former CEO, Marvin Traub. It has also been reported that Brazil's SP Alpargatas group, South America's largest shoe manufacturer and the producer of Tinseltown's favorite Havaianas sandals, is in 'advanced talks' to acquire a controlling interest in Osklen.

A big buyer would move fast to make the rest of the world aware of Osklen's laidback-with-high-quality apparel and $200-plus groovy "Tenis" shoes. Although Osklen does not report figures, estimates peg the company's 2011 revenue somewhere between $170 million and $230 million. Only 5% of that comes from overseas. Metsavaht plans on increasing Osklen's exports to at least 15% of the company's annual sales, which are growing by double-digit rates year after year. With 63 wholly-owned stores in Brazil, and 10 abroad, the chain also exports its products to over 30 countries, selling them through a network of international high-end department stores.

Whichever conglomerate happens to own Osklen, Metsavaht is expected to benefit heavily from the deal. Not only financially, but also due to the designer's image and name being strongly connected to that of his company. "He's not only a designer, but someone who came up with a very particular style for a brand," says Luciane Robic, the marketing-director of Instituto Brasileiro de Moda (Brazil's Fashion Institute). In other words, it is essential that he stays as a creative force in Osklen in order to keep it afloat.

The deal, as it seems, is more than just about money. It will move the buyer even closer to the luxury fashion market of a country that is minting 19 millionaires every day. As the world's 5th largest textile producer, Brazil is the home to a variety of fashion brands like Osklen that, in spite of having virtually no name recognition outside the country, have a devoted fan base among the wealthy elite as well as the country's widening middle-class. They're competing directly with the likes of Christian Dior and Lanvin.

For Metsavaht to repeat his domestic success abroad, he certainly needs a bigger partner to back him up properly. Luckily, for him, it's just a matter of choosing which partner.